Godzilla vs Megaguirus (2000)
aka Gojira tai Megagirasu: Ji shometsu sakusen
Article 5680 by Dave Sindelar
Date: 5-30-2019
Directed by Maasaki Tezuka
Featuring Misato Tanaka, Shosuke Tanihara, Masato Ibu
Country: Japan
What it is: More monster antics

A new weapon designed to be used to battle Godzilla accidentally creates a hive of insect-like monsters. Who will prevail – the insects or Godzilla?

I rather like some of the touches in this movie from the Millennium series, such as the fake newsreel that fills in the history from the original 1954 movie to the events in this one. Its basic concept of a series of small monsters which eventually give way to a giant one is similar to the one used in GAMERA II: ADVENT OF LEGION, which is a somewhat better movie. There are some arty touches here that don’t quite work (such as the occasional use of a jagged slow-motion technique), and sometimes the special effects are very weak; there are moments where the strings controlling Megaguirus are painfully obvious. The final battle is a bit on the odd sign, and even seems to be playing for laughs on occasion. Though some people seem to hate this one (I saw one ranked list of Godzilla movies that places this one on the very bottom), but I find it interesting and a bit different, though not as good as the subsequent movie in the series.